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In September 2014, the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) distributed an Urgent Safety Modification message regarding the Multi-Temperature Refrigerated Container System(MTRCS). High voltage wiring in the MTRCS had been determined to be unsafe when connected to an external high voltage power source; Advanced Design Corporation (ADC) was subsequently contracted to locate and modify 600 of these systems in accordance with a Modification Work Order (MWO) developed by Army engineers to resolve the problem. From a list of MTRCS serial numbers and basic unit information, ADC contacted units and confirmed the locations of each MTRCS throughout the United States, Japan, Korea, Germany, Italy, Kuwait and Qatar.

Once systems were located, ADC developed a plan for applying the MWO at each location in accordance with the most efficient route. A travel-plotting document helped manage key information including addresses, points of contact, system serial numbers, mileage from one location to another, on-location modification time estimates and available location lodging information for this extensive mission. Our contingency planning also allowed for possible modification delays (weather, unit POC transfers, last minute equipment transfers) and travel delays (road traffic, construction, accidents and again weather). Logistically, the success of this task was driven by attention to details.

ADC’s main office became an inspection and staging facility for the GFE MWO kits and CFE modification equipment. MWO kits, produced by the manufacturer, were inventoried before shipping, and tools that failed on the job were replaced. Times, dates and locations had to come together for the restocking of kits and tools for the trip - a good lesson in Just-In-Time (JIT) inventory management.

The team assembled by ADC became modification experts by initially applying the MWO to over 60 MTRCSs warehoused in one location in less than one month. This team subsequently executed a coast-to-coast modification plan to complete hundreds more. Our team reconfirmed locations and POCs at each unit, gained access to the systems, completed the MWO modifications, cleaned the worksites and departed for the next location on the travel plot - each stop to be completed on a pre-determined schedule. In reality, the travel-plotting document was a fluid, constantly changing plan, as ADC technicians encountered equipment and unit obstacles that could not be foreseen, necessitating the need to revisit some locations at a later date. ADC’s MWO Team began on the east coast, worked towards the central US, and finished on the west coast. At the close of December 2015, ADC technicians had completed 273 MWO mods in Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia and Washington. During the same time period, a second ADC team covered modifications in Alaska, Okinawa and mainland Japan.

By the beginning of 2016, the teams had become road savvy and very adept at maintaining continuous contact with upcoming MOD POCs and units. ADC logistical support was now highly skilled with inventorying, and shipping kits/tools, and helping to manage unit contact. The teams continued to California, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin and West Virginia. During this year, other teams traveled to Germany, Hawaii, Italy, Korea, Kuwait, Puerto Rico and Qatar to complete 187 MWOs OCONUS.

After close to two years of driving and flying to locations worldwide, the MTRCS modification program is nearly complete. Many of the MTRCSs that remain in Afghanistan and Iraq will either be completed upon return to the states or by an ADC team sent to complete modifications in OCONUS.

So, if you’d like to see the world, maybe think about joining ADC. You just might have an opportunity to drive 30,000 miles, visit 9 counties and complete close to 600 modifications in a two year period.

It probably won’t be a MTRCS mod though…we already have those covered.